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Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR): Meet others & Share Your Story
Polymyalgia Rheumatica (PMR) | Last Active: Jan 27 8:38am | Replies (1879)Comment receiving replies
Thank you for allowing me to join this group. I am not confirmed diagnosed yet, but my doctor suspects I have PMR. Around October of last year, I noticed that my muscles and joints felt quite stiff, especially in the morning. I chalked it up to aging....I am 53. However I thought it strange that my stiffness was worse after resting, which I now understand is called gelling. I also suffer from frequent headaches, randomly bursting blood vessels in my fingers and toes, nearly chronic diarhhea, depression and so many food senstivities. Could these be related? More than anything, It's the muscle and joint stiffness and pain that affects me. In the morning I have to go down the stairs one at a time, like a toddler. My feet seem especially stiff and sore in the mornings, like all the tiny joints in them need to loosen up. I need to assist myself getting on and off the toilet, and I feel there are so many things that I can no longer do, in such a short period of time. It is incredibly distressing because I am an active person! Last August I was tubing in the rapids with my daughter, this March I can hardly walk a more than a few short blocks because everything just hurts. The pain in my hips and back wakes me up, and I just can't get or stay comfortable in bed. It's exhausting. Had bloodwork done 2 weeks ago and an xray of my lumbar and sacral spine last week. Don't see the doc for another 10 days for results. Thoughts?
Replies to "Thank you for allowing me to join this group. I am not confirmed diagnosed yet, but..."
Laura, so sorry to hear of your recent symptoms m. As John said, it sounds like more than PMR, but we’re not doctors/ clinicians. I too had my symptoms for months and based on some of my MRI’s a neurosurgeon was reaching out to suggest surgery on my lumbar spine. I have known of my bad back for years but knew instinctively that this was not due to my spine. My bloodwork was not a decisive factor, as I did not have the classic markers ( as John experienced too). Did your doc suggest trying Prednisone? Mine did to see if it worked, and as in John’s experience, I was symptom free within a day. I had never heard of PMR, was tested for cancer, lupus, MS, RA, and who knows what else, all came back negative.
? For you, is your stiffness bilateral? Is it better as the day progresses, only to return in full form in the morning? I hope you get the help you need and welcome to the club, though we all wish we weren’t afflicted, this is such a great support.
Hi Laura! I'm wondering if you have had Covid or the vaccine. My reason for asking is that some on your symptoms are similiar to my PMR but some remind me of the symptoms I had from mild Covid and the Monoclonal antibody infusion I had to keep the Covid symptoms from getting worse. I am on prednisone (down to 6mg now) but still have pain in my forearms and upper legs below my bottom. I have blood blisters below my skin on my arms and my hair is either breaking off or falling out. I can't tell which. My husband was in the hospital with Covid and has been experiencing diarrhea and stomach pain. Both of us had Covid in late December. Maybe your symptoms are not just PMR. The waiting for test results is hard, especially if you are in pain. Hold on, your Dr. will figure it out. Good luck!
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Hello @laurafin, Welcome to Connect. It sounds like you have more than polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) going on. I'm not sure anyone here can say whether or not your other symptoms are related since we are patients like yourself. I did find an article that does mentions what I think are probably your non-PMR symptoms possibly related to food allergies.
"Many IBS patients give a history of food intolerance, but data from dietary ... Beliefs about food allergy can even lead to severe dietary restrictions[37,38]. ... Correlation between perceived food intolerance and depression, anxiety, and ... is associated with the occurrence especially of digestive complaints (diarrhoea, bloating ..." -- Psychological burden of food allergy: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4146781/
Did your doctor start you on a treatment for PMR or are you waiting to see a rheumatologist?